No. 22 Wrestling Set For Big Weekend at 2012 EIWA Championships

The Story Line
A year's worth of training and four months of competition comes
down to two days now as the No. 22 Harvard wrestling team takes to
the mat at the 2012 EIWA Championships March 3-4 in Princeton,
N.J.

What to Watch For Harvard is currently projected to finish sixth at the
EIWA Championships, which would mark the team's highest finish at
the meet since placing sixth in 2007. A total of five Crimson
received a top eight seed, including Steven Keith, the
early favorite to win the 133 lbs. bracket. Corey Jantzen is
pre-seeded second at 149 lbs. while Walter
Peppelman (3rd, 157 lbs.), Cameron Croy (6th,
184 lbs.) and James Fox (6th, 197
lbs.) round things out.

Harvard at the EIWA Championships Harvard boasts 20 EIWA Champions and 158 EIWA
placewinners in program history. The Crimson has crowned nine
individual title holders over the last 10 years, and a total of 16
under Jay Weiss, the David G. Bunning '88 Head Coach for Harvard
Wrestling. J.P. O'Connor '10 won the Crimson's last EIWA title in
2010 en route to the school's only undefeated season and the 157
lbs. NCAA Championship.

Harvard won its lone EIWA team championship in 2001 led by
heavyweight Dawid Rechul '02, who was named the meet's most
outstanding wrestler. Rechul and 133-pounder Matt Picarsic '01 won
a pair of individual titles for the Crimson and were joined on the
podium by Keven El-Hayek, Jesse Jantzen '04, Max Odom '03, Pat
O'Donnell '03, Francis Volpe '00 and Reggie Lee '03.

Click here to visit the media center on GoCrimson.com
to learn more about Harvard's history.

NCAA Berths At Stake Each of the wrestlers competing at the EIWA Championships
will also be vying for a spot at the 2012 NCAA Championships, being
held this year March 15-17 in St. Louis, Mo. The NCAA announced the
qualifier allocations for the tournament last week, with the EIWA
receiving 46 automatic bids, second only to the Big Ten
Conference's 74. Each conference qualifying tournament was awarded
a specific number of spots per weight class based on current year
individual data, including Division I winning percentage; rating
percentage index (RPI); and coaches ranking.

All-Ivy Honors No. 12 Steven Keith and No. 6 Walter Peppelman were named
to the 2012 All-Ivy League teams, with Keith being a unanimous
first team selection and Peppelman earning second team honors. This
was Keith's first All-Ivy accolade, while Peppelman was a first
team selection in 2011. Click
here to read the full story.

Rank and File
The Crimson moved up to No. 22 in this week's InterMat tournament
strength rankings, marking the team's highest ranking of the year.
Corey Jantzen has spent the last two weeks ranked fifth at 149
lbs., also marking his highest ranking this season, while Walter
Peppelman has spent two weeks as the sixth-ranked grappler at 157
lbs. Steven Keith has remained steady at No. 12 at 133 lbs. for the
last five weeks.

Free Fallin'
Senior co-captain Walter Peppelman currently ranks third in
Harvard history with 25 career pins, while his nine falls this
season put him one shy of matching his career-high and
10th place on the school's single-season list. His 85
career wins, meanwhile, put him one short of entering the school's
all-time top 10.

Watch highlights of Peppelman's 25th career fall
below.

Twice As Nice
Harvard earned EIWA Wrestler of the Week honors in back-to-back
weeks in the form of Corey Jantzen (Jan. 9) and Walter Peppelman
(Jan. 16). Jantzen garnered his second career wrestler of the week
accolade after going 4-0 in his return to the Crimson lineup,
including a 7-4 tiebreakers decision over then unbeaten and
third-ranked Mario Mason of Rutgers. Peppelman went 3-0 at the Lone
Star Duals to earn the award for the first time in his career with
a pair of pins and a 2-0 decision over Oklahoma's Matt Lester,
currently ranked No. 15.

Raising the Bar At 5-10 on the year, Harvard matched the program's
highest win total since the 2002-03 season when it went 6-7-1. The
Crimson's 2-7 record in the EIWA has also matched the program's
best mark total since going 4-1 in conference in 2000-01.

Mic'd Up
Jay Weiss, the David G. Bunning '88 Head Coach for Harvard
Wrestling, was wired for sound when the Crimson hosted Army in its
home opener Jan. 28.

Streaking Senior co-captain Walter Peppelman won 10 straight
matches from Jan. 6 to Feb. 4, and won the first nine of those
bouts without allowing a single point. He opened the streak with
six consecutive first period falls and tacked on two major
decisions for good measure.

Infusion of Youth Harvard's lineup this season features eight freshmen,
four of which have been fixtures in the starting lineup.
197-pounder James Fox has burst onto the scene with an 19-10
record, and was ranked No. 31 in the third and final set of
coaches' panel rankings released by the NCAA. David Ng has carried
the load at heavyweight all season long to the tune of a 9-16
record, while Josh Popple has posted an 8-6 record at 174 lbs.
since returning to the lineup after missing the fall semester due
to injury. Joe
Barbato and Max Mejia have split time at 125 lbs. and have
combined for a 4-18 mark.

What a Start Harvard went 3-1 to open the dual meet portion of its
schedule, marking the team's best start to a season since going 5-1
in 1995-96. The Crimson defeated Rider, 22-15, before falling at
No. 24 Rutgers, 33-12, and then posted victories at Millersville,
43-0, and Franklin & Marshall, 29-12.

Shut 'EmDown
The Crimson posted a shutout at Franklin & Marshall,
dominating the Diplomats to the tune of 43-0. This was Harvard's
first shutout since defeating Boston College 31-0 on Feb. 9, 2002
at the MAC, while the team's 43 points scored were the most since a
50-0 win at home over Columbia on Feb. 9, 2001.

On the Podium
The Crimson competed in four tournaments to begin the year and put
a total of 15 grapplers on the podium. Six Crimson placed at the
Binghamton Open, led by Walter Peppelman and Steven Keith who each
took third. Peppelman earned the first tournament title of his
career as seven Harvard wrestlers placed at the Keystone Classic,
while both Keith (3rd) and freshman James Fox
(7th) stood atop the podium at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas
Invitational. Keith also took eighth at the Midlands Championships
to lead a contingent of four Crimson who competed in the
tournament.